1995 Isuzu Rodeo S 4WD from North America - Comments

I have a 95 Rodeo V6 and I experience the ticking noise at times with no reason or a change in the weather... cold front, rain, etc. Comes and goes... sometimes running hard on the interstate will cause it to tick when I exit. A friend told me to use auto transmission fluid in the crankcase (1 quart). I was resistant to this at first, but had tried everything else so gave it a try. I put 1/2 quart auto trans fluid in my crankcase when I changed oil and it really made a difference. I think the trans fluid is a thin lubricant that really gets into those places that are ticking. Anyway mine quieted down and only comes back if I run over 3000 miles without changing oil.

I currently own a 4WD 1995.5 Rodeo S and I can tell you up front that the car has really been a good vehicle. Not a great car like my Hondas, but a good vehicle. I have towed a racecar all over the Southeast too many race tracks and put many, many miles on the little bugger. It tows good, but you have to keep the speed up over 75 just to keep the momentum for the next hill. I tow at 80 to 85 MPH with the car and it does very well and seems to get around 13 to 15 MPG when I hit it that hard, 18 MPG is the maximum without the trailer. I also tow a 3000 lbs boat and it seems to push the Rodeo around a lot, but it is a massive boat that I only tow 3 miles round trip. Here are the problems that I have dealt with since I bought the truck at 6,000 miles and now I have 154,000.

*Valve Cover Leaks - Dealer Repaired and did not fix

*Spark Plug Wires dying - Due to dealer sucking

*Two window regulators dying on Drivers, one on passenger

*Long Start Problem - Fixed with replacing Fuel injectors and if anyone wants to get rid of this problem, look up Marren Motorsports for a good injection cleaning and this will get rid of your problems.

*Airplane Takeoff sound from coolant fan - Replaced with Electric and I got better gas mileage and lower sound on takeoff.

*Broken Cup Holder lid - Tried to repair, but broke again

*Rear Driveshaft bearings - Replaced and they were a bear to cut off, but they were easy to put back on.

*Rear Differential Bearings - That was a cool repair since everything lined right back up and was really nice! $$$$

*Brake Rotors Twice up front (warpage) and once in the rear - Watch the wear closely on those brakes!

* Now the infernal ticking has started and I have put engine cleaner through many times, which used to help. Now it is completely gone and always ticks after it warms up. I am now looking into replacing the lifters ($1500) and going ahead and changing the spark plug tubes with the upgraded versions that are available through Honda. I have had the tubes for 6 years, but the spark plug wires seem to be holding up so I left them alone. I am leaking more oil out of the valve cover gaskets so it seems like a good time to attack.

I have always done the proper service for a heavy duty service vehicle and this one has held up better than I thought it would. I would not recommend this car for everyone since you would need to do some of the service yourself or it would get way to expensive. The rear diff service that I performed cost me $150 but I was quoted $1200 from Cottman's transmission (just went in to glean information from the service guy acting like I would use them, Yeah right!! I hear those guys s*ck!)

I have been using Yokohama tires on the vehicle and I have 30,000 miles on this set and probably get 30,000+ more.

One more note, always use AMSOIL transmission fluid since it has made mine run flawlessly. The trans is in exceptional shape and I owe it all to AMSOIL! The engine oil however, did not help with the valve lifters since I used it and it started ticking with it. I know that these lifter must really stink if AMSOIL can't keep it from happening.

I have a 1995 Isuzu Rodeo and the check trans light keeps coming on and when it does you can't drive it unless you push down really hard on the gas. If I wait about 30 minutes idling all my dash lights come on and the check trans light goes away with them. Any ideas Brandi.